Learning to Chill: The Role of Design Schools and Professional Training to Improve Urban Climate and Urban Metabolism

Mohammad Taleghani, Azadeh Montazami and Daniela Perrotti
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Mohammad Taleghani: School of Science, Engineering and Environment, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK
Azadeh Montazami: Faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing, Coventry University, 3 Gulson Road, Coventry CV1 2JH, UK
Daniela Perrotti: Faculty of Architecture, Architectural Engineering and Urban Planning, University of Louvain, Place du Levant 1, 1348 Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-14

Abstract: The increased frequency of heat-related mortality and morbidity in urban environments indicates the importance of urban climate studies. As most of the world’s population lives in cities, the education of designers, planners and policy makers is crucial to promote urban sustainability This paper, firstly, focuses on the different factors causing the urban heat islands in large cities. Secondly, it considers how these factors are reflected in higher education programmes. Examples are shown from courses in UK higher education, explaining the common software tools used for simulating urban spaces, and student field measurements are drawn on to illustrate how urban climate studies are included in higher education curricula. Urban metabolism is used to conceptualise the main approach to systemic resource-use assessments and as a holistic framework to investigate the main drivers of the urban heat island phenomenon. To sum up, this paper reflects on the importance of training climatically-aware graduates from design schools.

Keywords: Design schools; urban heat islands; surface properties; material flow analysis; resource management; urban metabolism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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